With the same passionate scholarship and analytical audacity he brought to the character of God, Jack Miles now approaches the literary and theological enigma of Jesus. In so doing, he tells the story of a broken promise–God’s ancient covenant with Israel–and of its strange, unlooked-for fulfillment. For, having abandoned his chosen people to an impending holocaust at the hands of their Roman conquerors. God, in the person of Jesus, chooses to die with them, in what is effectively an act of divine suicide. On the basis of this shocking argument, Miles compels us to reassess Christ’s entire life and teaching: His proclivity for the powerless and disgraced. His refusal to discriminate between friends and enemies. His transformation of defeat into a victory that redeems not just Israel but the entire world. Combining a close reading of the Gospels with a range of reference that includes Donne, Nietzche, and Elie Wiesel, Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God is a work of magnificent eloquence and imagination.
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"A nice follow to Miles' literary analysis of the Old Testament. I like the exploration of Jesus' varied NT roles. I still believe the image of God/Jesus as bridegroom/husband invites abuse and rationalization, though. Can't we just be friends? Both of Miles' books will merit re-reading. " — Marguerite (4 out of 5 stars)
"A nice follow to Miles' literary analysis of the Old Testament. I like the exploration of Jesus' varied NT roles. I still believe the image of God/Jesus as bridegroom/husband invites abuse and rationalization, though. Can't we just be friends? Both of Miles' books will merit re-reading. "
“Provocative and deeply engaging…This is a spectacular story, and Miles tells it well…Exciting reading.”
“[Jack Miles] is a daring critic…Regardless of our agreement or disagreement with him, he prods us to read these familiar stories afresh, with all their original suspense and drama, his analysis serving as an invitation for our own.”
“No one who reads it will be able to think about even the most familiar Biblical scenes in quite the same way.”
“The brilliance of Jack Miles’s new book on Christ is that it manages to ‘make strange’ the best-known story in history…Startlingly original.”
“Miles is a master, provocative, and accessible, in presenting a God who is ambivalent, hesitant, moody, offhand, remote, and opaque: a reluctant supernatural magician…This is the most compelling page-turner of the year.”
“As literary interpreters go, Miles does a lovely job…Often thrilling.”
“Brims with ideas, and Miles has a teacher’s urge to find a profusion of ways to explain those ideas…Let all great religious texts have such enlightened readers.”
“Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God is, like Miles’s previous book, a stimulating, challenging work.”
" Richard says: This was a completely original interpretation of the life of Christ, and gave a fresh insight into the Gospels. "
" A wonderful book that really changed the way I look at things. A deep read, but easy to take important lessons from. "
" A nice follow to Miles' literary analysis of the Old Testament. I like the exploration of Jesus' varied NT roles. I still believe the image of God/Jesus as bridegroom/husband invites abuse and rationalization, though. Can't we just be friends? Both of Miles' books will merit re-reading. "
" Excellent on first blush. J Miles can really write and his analytical skills (not simply textual, mind) are filed to a fine, sharp needle "
" Fantastic... this will reinvigorate your spiritual imagination. "
" As good as God A Biography. Another spellbinding read! "
" Conceptually very interesting, but it was a very heavy read and I don't enjoy having to continually put books down to let them "breathe". I'm glad I made notes so I can look back and know I didn't imagine how bogged down I felt when I first read this. "
" What made GOD go from a warrior/blood-thirsty/vengeful/-all-powerful invisible entity to a mortal miracle maker hell-bent on suicide? Pick up this stellar book (I dont usually use the world stellar all that much either)and find out. Just the facts Mam' "
" Unlike God: A Biography, this attempt is sorely lacking in focus. It jumps around the New Testament with no clear sense of direction. I'd hoped for illumination like I received with the first book, but alas, no. "
Jack Miles is a writer whose work has appeared in numerous national publications, including the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, and theLos Angeles Times. He earned a PhD in Near Eastern languages from Harvard University and is a former Jesuit. His first book, God: A Biography, won a Pulitzer Prize and has been translated into fifteen languages. He is senior advisor to the president of the J. Paul Getty Trust, a foundation supporting art and scholarship.
Grover Gardner (a.k.a. Tom Parker) is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.
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